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Delivering the most anticipated Astralwerks release of 2006, the extraordinary English singer-songwriter, Beth Orton, returns with Comfort Of Strangers. The first single 'Conceived' already a runaway hit. The CD was produced by Jim O'Rourke (Wilco,Stereolab). Astralwerks. After 2002's Daybreaker, Beth Orton hit a wall. The album mixed Nashville and club-ville, and while her bruised vocals were as beautiful as ever, Daybreaker lacked the coherence her previous work. Comfort of Strangers, on the contrary, may be her most focused album, and her best. Produced by Jim O'Rourke Sonic Youth, Wilco, Strangers is a stripped-down affair with barely a hint of the electronic trappings that characterized Orton's early work. Although keyboards and strings occasionally sweeten the arrangements, most songs feature little more than Orton's guitar, O'Rourke's bass, and Tim Barnes's drums. And, of course, Orton's voice, which is the real star. Whether slow-burning and weary on "A Place Aside" and "Safe in Your Arms," tense and edgy on "Heart of Soul" and "Feral," or gentle and conversational on "Conceived" and "Rectify," Orton's understated alto manages to be consistently stunning without ever overshadowing the songs themselves. Orton wrestles with self-doubt and affairs of the heart throughout the album, but she also tackles issues of religion and politics and social justice in compact songs. Direct but not simple, Comfort of Strangers suggests that Orton realized that less can sometimes be more rewarding, for both the artist and the listener.
Condition:NEW. Slashed case
TRACK LISTINGS
Disc 1
1 Worms (2:04)
2 Countenance (2:23)
3 Heartlandtruckstop (2:47)
4 Rectify (2:26)
5 Comfort of Strangers (3:18)
6 Shadow of a Doubt (3:58)
7 Conceived (3:27)
8 Absinthe (4:02)
9 A Place Aside (2:19)
10 Safe in Your Arms (4:28)
11 Shopping Trolley (2:51)
12 Feral (3:35)
13 Heart of Soul (3:50)
14 Pieces of Sky (3:09)
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